UConn Opens With Shaky W

Huskies take 3rd national title with 53-41 win

(AP) - Kemba Walker scored 16 points and Connecticut beat Butler 53-41 on Monday night to give Jim Calhoun his third national championship, something only four other coaches have done. The Huskies did it with defense holding the Bulldogs to a Final Four-record low 18.8 shooting percentage (12 for 64). Connecticut capped one of college basketball's best postseason runs, winning six games in the NCAA tournament after winning five games in as many days to win the Big East title. It was the second straight year Butler lost in the championship game. Last year they were beaten 61-59 by Duke. More»

Coach K passes Bob Knight's record

(NEWSER) - Duke Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski gave mentor Bob Knight a hug immediately after surpassing his record of 902 wins last night. The victory over Michigan State made the man known as Coach K, now in his 37th season, Division I's all-time winningest coach, and the season is just getting started. "Before Coach K decides to call it a career, he could very well be sitting on 1,000 career victories," writes Zachary Rymer at Bleacher Report . Click here for more. More»

'Wounded warriors' watch; reporters boxed out

(NEWSER) - President Obama played basketball today with a constellation of NBA stars and a ringer from the national champion UConn women's team. Service members injured in action and participants in the White House mentoring program watched, but the press pool waited outside, the Washington Post reports. Retired stars Magic Johnson and Bill Russell played but Kobe Bryant only watched, reports The Hill . More»

(NEWSER) - A quest to play pro football might keep a Duke basketball player in school for another year, ESPN reports. Greg Paulus, who has used up his basketball eligibility at Duke, has been offered a tryout for the school’s football team—but at receiver, not quarterback, where he starred in high school. Yesterday, Paulus visited the University of Michigan, which has an uncertain quarterback situation, the Detroit Free Press reports. More»

Popularity has sucked all the charm out of the tournament

(NEWSER) - In the '60s and '70s, the NCAA tournament was boring because UCLA seemingly always won. These days, "instead of UCLA winning it every year, there are now between five and nine UCLAs that can win it every year," Charles Pierce writes for Slate. "It's just as sterile and dynastic as it used to be." It’s oligarchy rather than monarchy, but it feels just as stale. More»